Economic and Market News for 23 November 2020

Land and property group Harworth said it had acquired off-market Saturn Park in Knowsley, Merseyside, for £26 million plus acquisition costs. The acquisition, in line with Harworth's strategy to...

Medical devices group RUA Life Sciences said it had recorded positive test results for its most recently manufactured surgical valves. The hydrodynamic or pulsatile flow testing replicated the...

Customer relationship management software company Cerillion raised its final dividend after reporting a rise in profit as new business wins boosted revenue. For the 12 months ended 30 September...

Drug development company Evgen Pharma said it had enrolled and dosed its first patient in the STAR trial evaluating SFX-01 as a treatment for acute respiratory infections. This phase II/III trial...

Fresh cream cakes retailer Cake Box today lifted its interim dividend as first-half profit fell modestly amid higher margin and revenue. For the six months ended 30 September 2020, pre-tax profit...

Shares in Reabold Resources and Union Jack Oil both fell sharply after the companies announced disappointing drilling results from the West Newton venture in England. The WNB-1 well, drilled to a...

Woundcare company Advanced Medical Solutions said it had acquired Raleigh Adhesive Coatings for £22 million, strengthening the company's position in the woundcare sector. 'Raleigh has also...

Energy support vessels company Gulf Marine Services said it had suspended Tim Summers from his current role as chief executive officer, pending an internal investigation into a severance agreement...

Chemicals company Elementis said it had closed its production plant in Charleston, West Virginia. The decision followed a review of its North American manufacturing operations to improve both...

Exploration and development company Bluejay Mining said it had joined the European Raw Materials Alliance. The ERMA was recently launched by the European Commission as part of its outlined action...

Directa Plus said NexTech Batteries' Lithium-Sulphur batteries battery, produced with the company's graphene nanoplatelets had achieved above 400 watt-hours per kilogram in pre-production...

Health care services group Uniphar said Ireland's Competition and Consumer Protection Commission had approved its planned acquisition of Hickey's Pharmacy. The deal, previously disclosed on 2...

Gulf Keystone Petroleum said it had completed its planned workover on the SH-12 well in Iraq and expected output within the top end of its guidance range. The company confirmed that average 2020...

Renewable energy and forestry management business Active Energy said it had appointed Andrew Diamond as finance director starting from 1 January 2021. Diamond was previously finance director at...

Mining company Vast Resources said the first commercial sale of concentrate produced at its Baita Plai polymetallic Mine in Romania was expected to conclude on Wednesday. The company said it had...

Respiratory diseases focused Verona Pharma said it had entered into a debt financing facility for up to $30 million with Silicon Valley Bank. The capital provided further financial flexibility to...

Castings and engineering group Chamberlin said it had lost its largest customers of the machine shop's output to a rival supplier. Ongoing customer orders were likely to be a 'fraction of the...

Gasification technology company Eqtec said it had agreed with Scott Bros. Enterprises to extend the exclusivity period of the Billingham memorandum of understanding to jointly develop the proposed...

Infrastructure company HICL said it had signed a new letter of credit facility to support its existing and future commitments to projects in construction. The facility was initially sized at...

Long income real estate investment trust LXi REIT swung to a first-half loss as higher rental income was offset by a pandemic-fueled fall in the value of its property portfolio. For the...

Infrastructure investor group John Laing said it had increased its stake in I-77 Mobility Partners by 7.45% to 17.45% after investing an additional $38.6 million. I-77 Mobility Partners was the...

Cinema group Cineworld said it had secured a $450 million debt facility maturing 23 May 2024, to firm up its finances and would undertake additional measures to deliver over $300m in liquidity....

Pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca said clinical trials in the UK and Brazil showed its Covid-19 vaccine, being developed with Oxford University, had an average efficacy of 70% in protecting...

Food packaging company Hilton Food said Robert Watson would make the planned move from executive chairman to non-executive chairman on 1 January 2021. 'This change follows the completion of the...

Insurance company Aviva said it had agreed to sell its entire 80% stake in the Italian life insurance joint venture, Aviva Vita, to its partner UBI Banca for €400 million. The transaction,...

Roadside assistance company AA said it had received a possible takeover of 35 pence a share from a consortium of investors including TowerBrook Capital Partners and Warburg Pincus International....

High-tech component supplier to the aerospace and energy markets Meggitt said it had issued $300 million of private placement debt. The senior notes were issued to international investors on 19...

Telecom company Vodafone said it had committed to reducing its global carbon emissions to 'net zero' by 2040, a decade earlier than first planned. The company confirmed that its 2030 carbon...

Russia-focused gold miner Petropavlovsk said it had appointed of KPMG to investigate 'certain transactions' undertaken by the company in the three years to August 2020. The forensic investigation...